On hunger strike, Sadhvi Pragya Singh's health deteriorates

Bhopal: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who got a clean chit from the NIA in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, has shown deteriorating health condition since she started a hunger strike to demand that she be allowed to go to Ujjain for the ongoing Simhasth Kumbh.

Sadhvi Pragya began an indefinite hunger strike last Monday to press her demand that she be allowed to take a dip in the Shipra river at Ujjain during the ongoing Simhasth Kumbh. The authorities were not allowing her to travel to Ujjain on security grounds, she alleged.

File photo of Sadhvi Pragya Singh. PTI

Pragya, who was in Bhopal Central Jail, has now been shifted to the Pandit Khushilal Sharma Ayurveda Hospital in Bhopal for treatment.

According to Sadhvi Pragya's aides, her condition has gone from bad to worse.

She is weak and her blood pressure has dipped below normal, her aides said and have taken up the matter with Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur.

In a letter to the President and the Prime Minister, the Sadhvi has threatened to fast unto death if her demands are not met by 21 May.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a statement said that Sadhvi Pragya can attend the Kumbh mela only if her security concerns are met.

The Simhasth Kumbh Mela in Ujjain commenced on 22 April and will end on 21 May.